I heard about this doll on the radio a couple days ago and they were asking for opinions related to the controvesial nature of this baby doll. It seemed that both radio show hosts were offended by the doll and they did not appear very open to comments who were supportive of this doll.

What it is: Basically this doll has a sucking motion when it attaches to a halter style/apron style top that little girls wear and pretend to breastfeed their baby doll. The top has nipples that the baby sucks on.

Some people who called in to the radio station said they were offended and others stated that they thought it was okay because breastfeeding is natural. The people who were offended had comments related to the exploitation of little girls.

My opinion: Well, honestly I was a little concerned about what the product looked like and thought it was slightly offensive. The way it was described was that little girls would wear a strap on breast. I pictured a fake boob (one) attached to a halter style strap. If you see the picture it looks nothing like a real breast. Even before I checked the website to see what this product looked like I started thinking about the message behind the toy. Breastfeeding is so natural and the best source of nutrition you can provide for your child yet, it is quite controversial in itself. Especially in the United States it seems that bottle feeding is a more acceptable way to feed your child, especially if you are feeding your child in public. This toy originated in another country (cant remember which one) and I assume that it was probably a country where breastfeeding is more publicly acceptible. That being said, the majority of baby dolls you purchase often come with bottles to feed the baby doll, so why not a breastfeeding baby? I would not purchase this doll for my daughter but only because of the price tag $99, yikes! That is the offensive part in my opinion. But, if I found it at a yard sale, I would probably buy it. If it was given to my daughter as a gift I would allow her to use it as it is intended. I think it is completely natural for young girls to want to feed their babies whichever way they want to just as adult mothers are allowed to choose how they feed their babies. Breasts are so sexualized in our society and they are intended for use to feed our children, sexuality is secondary in my opinion. If I saw my daughter playing with any of her babies, suckling or not, and she held the baby to her little nips, I would say “Oh what a good mommy, you are feeding your baby” but if I saw her feeding her baby with a bottle I would still say “Oh what a good mommy, you are feeding your baby”. There is no difference.

I do see how people could be off put by the doll and that some people might think little girls are being rushed to grow up but I do not see this as exploitation. Feeding babies is natural and often older children witness their mothers breastfeeding younger siblings and they might naturally pretend to feed their babies by bringing the dolls to their chests. No big deal.

For the record, I was not paid to write this review and did not receive any product to write this review. This is of my own opinion freely written instigated by frustrating conversation on a local radio station.